Static messaging to customers and prospects is so obvious these days and unfortunately all too common. The second shift we need to make is away from bland fantasy to dynamic, involving communications were the emphasis is on the tangible customer experience not just looking pretty!

Thankfully some people are asking questions. One of my clients recently did a little research with their main customer base (those they had a strong, close relationship with.) They asked how many of them opened the direct mail they sent through. Not one opened it and they went straight into the recycling bin. No wonder it wasn’t working, all it was doing was messaging…telling people rather than involving. 

Now they send emailers as newsletters with interactive video content and podcasts as an alternative. Increase in sales…..on average 15%. Cost literally £’s.

Just an idea!

In a competitive environment and in a market place scrabbling for business to survive, now is the right time to review our approach to marketing. Not in a complex, sophisticated way, just a shift to a different level. Timing is fundamental but a long hard look at what you’re doing and answering a few key questions wouldn’t go amiss. I suspect one of the most crucial points is how do we create a tangible difference to our customer experience? And, what is holding us back?

Over the next six days I’ll talk about a shift we need to be considering. Lets start with the first one;

Marketing initiated by targeted messages to a passive prospect and customer list isn’t sustainable anymore. A movement to new ideas being adopted or created together with customers is the way forward. Encouraging your customers/prospects to be actively involved in your business is a far more interactive, engaging experience than being told what they can have, when and where. It just doesn’t wash with them anymore.

It involves getting up close and personal with customers, something that could be extremely uncomfortable for some of us. Marketing is a creative process, your customers could be more creative than you but suddenly we are in a place where such things are being demanded. It is possible to throw the old marketing rule book out and use ideas that are different, personal, disrupting and just boldly bizarre. 

Being in touch, jointly designing new products/solutions/services with customers seems to be a ‘no brainer’ and is critical to not just developing great businesses but is crucial to pulling a business out of the ‘bog’ of despair, ritual and dullness. 

Try it, it could provide you with an opportunity to do things now that you have only previously talked about!

Random acts of kindness often cost nothing but can create huge value in your business. It’s demonstrated no better than this quote by Ann Herbert, Margaret M. Pavel and Mayumi Oda in their book “Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty:”

“Anything we do randomly and frequently

starts to make it’s own sense

and changes the world into itself

Anything you want there to be more of

do it randomly

Don’t wait for reasons”

Simple, significant goodwill with your customer portfolio.

I know I’ve been banging on about customer service recently but it really bugs me when companies get the basics wrong. Sometime ago we humans created the internet. About ten years ago, mainstream companies started to really build sites for their customers so they’ve been around a while now. We should understand that around 72% of people looking for new products and services use the internet to search for suppliers, that’s why we all have contact pages; so people can make email enquiries and as switched on business people we can respond.

Not so solicitors it seems. It’s really passed them by or perhaps it’s just here in Exeter! I’ve contacted two major solicitors firms recently via their contacts page and have received sod all! Yep, nothing apart from one automated response.

Not responding is the equivalent of letting your phone ring over and over again. What is the point of spending thousands of pounds on a website when you can’t even do the basics of returning enquiries from your contacts page?

Hartnell’s and Michelmore’s you should be ashamed of your customer service. As usual the business went elsewhere. I could go on about competitive advantage and lost business but I think I’ve made the point…get the basics wrong and it won’t be long before business is seriously affected in the long term.

Rant and rave over…..

There are times when we all get sluggish, struggle with self motivation or the hurdles feel that just that little bit high to jump. On bad day it could be plain lazy. Making things happen during these hours/months (hope it’s not years) can be difficult. Heres some potential ideas:

1. Each week do something different. Something you haven’t done before. It doesn’t have to be sky diving but visiting an art gallery, kayaking or sitting in a coffee shop with a good business book will do!

2. Every so often take a ‘team time out.’ Take your people to the cinema, for a walk, bog snorkelling (we Brits do strange things) or visit another business you admire. It gives your team a different perspective, makes them feel valued and gives them a break.

3. Take time out yourself. Its tough running a business. Take time out for at least an hour a day to think. The best ideas often come when you are away from the office, away from staff and away from customers.

4. Every quarter do some house keeping. Set aside half a day when everyone throws out the stuff they don’t need anymore. Brochures, files and paperwork. It’s an opportunity to create a feeling of a fresh start.

Hope it helps….!

Getting very bored with being bombarded by these networks being set up with the promise they are different. Are they hell! And some social networks are not any better.

Don’t get me wrong there are some great ones about who really make a difference to their members but there is an over supply and little differentiation. Perhaps a better way of looking at making contacts is to identify five people who are amazing, lead their field, have interesting ideas or run a business that you admire.

Meet with each of them once a quarter…..ask each one for one contact they can introduce you to who is just as exciting and so on. Surely so much more productive than speed dating!

The three C’s for independent consultants, sole traders, free agents, freelancers and graduates:

Curriculum Vitae - the skills and competencies that you can confidently show where you add value to a customer and demonstrate a return on investment

Credibility - who can publicly swear by what you do and have experienced your added value

Customers - the kind of customers you have, not the number of customers you have. Loyal and advocates of everything you do

Is what you are doing this week, every week, reinforcing the above? Specifically, are you constantly working on your three C’s?

Ran a seminar recently for people running their own business who were independent consultants. We discussed what key things they needed to concentrate on from a personal development perspective. I’ve had a think and came up with this:

1. Having the courage and imagination to re create yourself daily

2. Nothing short of excellence (see previous post)

3. Disrupt the status quo in your industry/sector/market place

4. Work with exciting customers who stretch you, push you and enjoy working with you. Poor, bland customers will waste your time, contribute little to your business growth and after three years you’ll should be getting rid of the bottom 30% of your customers anyway

5. Grow through customers not products or sales. Consider each customer as a route to growth but true growth not just for the sake of it

6. Be genuine and authentic, anything less will bite you on the bum/as at some point

7. Actually have fun. If you’re not enjoying yourself, you’re doing the wrong thing. (I think Tom Peters once said this)

I’m sure there is more…..

As of now, immediately, like right now, start doing only excellent work. Stop for a minute and think about it! Imagine you are a serving in a coffee store. For your own sake, nobody else’s, you decide to set the standard for serving customers, giving the customer an exceptional experience they have not had in a long time. You decide what that might be and you do it now.

You refresh it, change it and develop it as you getter better at it. You might do some research to see what other stores are doing but you keep the standard high, you keep pushing the experience upwards and you never stop. How long does it take to do this? A second, yep, that quick and you start with your next customer. Never look back, never compromise that position, never do anything that might set you back.

Never mind serving coffee, you can do this in your business right now. People will look at you strangely, wonder what the hell has happened to you, but it’s only because they just don’t get and perhaps never will.

Seriously, there are different types of customers despite what we say. Spending time on the right customers is imperative, anything short of that is a waste of time. Right now go to your customer database, portfolio or list. Do an analysis and grade them into:

A’s - regular customers who provide lots of business, generate cash and profit for you and who are great to work with

B’s - new customers who have bought a few items or you have worked on your first project for. They offer huge potential to contribute to the growth of the business

C’s - businesses who are regular but offer little profit but are cash generators. They are occasionally bad payers

D’s - pain in the backside/ass to deal with, don’t pay on time and don’t contribute much in profit or cash. They certainly don’t add value to your brand profile.

Identify how much profit the C’s and D’s are generating….then sack them….yep get rid immediately! Use the extra time, energy and money to focus on keeping the A’s and B’s happy and gaining more new customers in these groups. Brave but a no brainer!